Seeing her attractive curves up close, Don lowered his head involuntarily. "Lily, let me ask you something. Are you really not planning to join the War Fire team?"

"Of course not. Hanging out with a murderous little thief like you is way more fun than dealing with those guys. Besides, I really dislike those sycophants in the Gon Alliance. They all look like ghosts, and their brains are full of water. I think they need to take brain-dead pills."

Don laughed. "Then level up with me from now on. Your progression might slow down a bit, though."

"That’s fine. I can practice my skills. Having people carry me through levels hasn’t improved me at all. With an expert like you around, you can teach me PK and how to actually kill people."

"Damn it, I’m not a professional killer."

While they were chatting, Lily’s ID above her head faded away, and the luster of her equipment dimmed. She now looked just like Don, a complete newbie. It was safer to level up in that state because no one paid attention to nobodies.

With the quest item in hand, Don walked once more to the crooked locust tree in Vellari Village. It was already dusk in the game.

The Fallen Warrior Long Wu was still sprawled under the locust tree, drinking from his broken bowl.

Lily frowned, the smell clearly bothered her. Don told her to wait where she was, pulled out the wine gourd, walked over, and silently placed it at Long Wu’s feet.

To Don’s surprise, the old scoundrel didn’t say a word at first. He simply picked up the gourd, sniffed it, and said, "There’s the scent of orcs on this. Did you fight them?"

"Yeah."

"Not bad. You’ve got guts. And some skill too."

The moment he finished speaking, the system chimed.

[Quest Completed, The Lost Wine Gourd]

[+200,000 EXP ]

[+400 Reputation]

[+15 Gold Coins]

Don’s experience bar shot up insanely, settling at ninety-three percent into Level 20. This D6-difficulty quest really wasn’t easy, and the experience reward was substantial.

But looking into Long Wu’s eyes, Don had a feeling there was more to this story.

He squatted down respectfully. "Uncle Long, is there anything else I can help you with?"

Long Wu coughed lightly. "Uncle? Just call me big brother. Do I look that old?"

"No, no. You look to be in your prime, full of vigor and vitality, feather fan in hand, silk turban on your head,"

"Alright, cut the flattery with me. I do have something I need help with. I have many hobbies. In my spare time, I like to drink tea and read. I’ve heard that in the southern part of the Saino Kingdom, there’s a small village called Brno. Five kilometers east of it lies a place called the Forest of Strange Sounds.

There’s a tea tree there whose leaves are an extremely rare treasure, once in a century. I’d like you to go and pick some leaves for me."

"No problem. I’ll head out right now." Despite her distaste for Long Wu, Don still had to accept.

"Wait. I’m not done. Why are you in such a hurry, kid? Going alone is suicide. That old tree isn’t easy to reason with. You’d better bring a few brave friends. Maybe if the old tree gets scared enough, it’ll hand the leaves over."

The system chimed again.

[Quest: Premium Tea]

[At the request of the Fallen Warrior Long Wu, head to the Forest of Strange Sounds east of Brno Village and retrieve a leaf from the Thousand-Year-Old Tea Tree King. Return it to Long Wu to complete the quest.]

[Difficulty: D3]

[Level Req: 18+ ]

[Party Size: 6]

Don took a deep breath. Level 18, that was a high bar.

But when he opened his friends list, he relaxed. He didn’t have many friends, but they were all high level, and they were all online. Even Bernita, the lowest at Level 18, was above the threshold. Diana was already Level 22.

He created a random voice room in the Realms Online chat system and invited the three members of the Reincarnation team, then Diana. Everyone was friendly and hopped into the voice channel one after another.

Without a word, Don posted the quest details in the voice channel’s shared notepad. A few sighs rippled through the room after reading.

Diana smiled faintly. "Where did you stir up trouble this time to land a quest this difficult?" 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Don said with mock coldness, "Sister Diana, why do you sound a little like my aunt?"

"Stop being cheeky. When are we leaving? Let’s do it now, while I’ve got the time."

"Ten minutes to gather. Don’t buy any potions or anything, since it’s my quest, I’ll handle the supplies."

Bernita covered her mouth and laughed. "Brother Don is so generous. But really, we don’t need anything. A quest this difficult must give tons of experience. Just think of it as a leveling trip."

Cappuccino added, "Don, don’t stand on ceremony."

But two screenshots suddenly appeared on the notepad, leaving everyone speechless.

[Lesser Alchemist’s Life Potion, Restores 45 HP/sec for 10 seconds | Cooldown: 15s]

[Lesser Alchemist’s Magic Potion, Restores 40 MP/sec for 10 seconds | Cooldown: 15s]

Lily’s mouth dropped open. "My goodness! That’s twice as effective as the low-grade potions from the general store, and then some! Sister, where did you buy these?"

Don patted the pretty girl’s head helplessly. "Newbie, stop talking. These potions are made using dwarven alchemy."

"Then I want to learn that skill too!"

"Only dwarves can learn it. If you really want to, you’ll have to delete your character and roll a new dwarf."

"Waaaaah."

"Don, is this girl your girlfriend? She has a cute voice." Even Diana couldn’t resist a little gossip.

"How could such a silly girl be my girlfriend? She’s my follower." Don laughed smugly.

"Hmph! You brat, are you asking for a beating? I am not your follower!" Lily waved her fist at him.

"Alright, stop messing around, Don. Let’s pick a meeting spot, we need to get moving. Don’t bother with potions. I’ll bring extras."

Cappuccino sounded a little embarrassed. "Sister Diana, this is too much..."

"Don’t stand on ceremony. Get ready." Diana was as generous as ever.

Don scheduled everyone to meet at the teleportation point in Brno Village in ten minutes.

In the meantime, he and Lily repaired all their equipment and then headed to the general store. Lily was surprisingly generous and bought him five thousand arrows right away.

Don chuckled. "When did you become so generous?"

Lily’s blunt reply almost made him spit blood. "It’s not that I’m generous. It’s that the Enhanced Boss was too generous."

"Sounds like you scooped up quite a lot back there."

The pretty girl timidly clutched at her pocket. "I only have a bit over seventy gold coins left. Good brother, my name lately is ’Money Is Tight,’ so please don’t exploit me. When I’m rich, I’ll repay you double. Deal?"

Don was at his wit’s end. This little one had such expressive reactions when she talked, her acting was so good, he just couldn’t bring himself to press her.

In less than ten minutes, they materialized at the central teleportation point of Brno Village, where Don finally grouped everyone together. Another round of sighs rippled through the channel as the full roster assembled.